The official 2021 Contender Boats 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series entry list features top NASCAR drivers set to compete at Homestead Miami Speedway, highlighting the full lineup of race participants and teams.
Saturday, February 27th, 2021
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL
Myatt Snider got his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
Noah Gragson got another heartache at Homestead.
With perfect execution from the inside lane on his second chance at an overtime restart, Snider held off charging Tyler Reddick to win Saturday's Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
For his third straight race at the 1.5-mile track, Gragson was close enough to taste victory, but it was his ill-fated crash with just over two laps left in regulation that set up overtime and Snider's victory.
Reddick's second-place finish didn't stand, however. His No. 23 Chevrolet was disqualified after post-race inspection, because the ride height measure too low in the rear.
On the first attempt at extra laps, Snider spun his tires, and Reddick grabbed the lead before AJ Allmendinger spun toward the infield grass in Turn 1 to cause the eighth and final caution.
In the second overtime, Reddick returned the favor, and Snider pulled clear in the bottom lane. With a determined charge on the final lap, Reddick gained ground, but he was .085 seconds in arrears when Snider crossed the finish line in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
"Yeah, I guess I learned my lesson on that first restart, ‘cause I spun the wheels," said Snider, who won in his 36th start in the series. "Then I saw Tyler spin the wheels on the next one, and I knew I might have a chance.
"Just a shout-out to all these RCR guys, (sponsor) Taxslayer, all these people that supported me over the years. It's been a rough journey, but we're here with a win, and I can't complain."
Reddick, who drives full-time for RCR in the NASCAR Cup Series, was moonlighting with RSS Racing on Saturday, making his first Xfinity start since winning his second straight series title at Homestead in 2019. But his effort proved moot with the disqualification, which elevated Brandon Jones to the runner-up spot.
Gragson was just over two laps away from a redemptive victory when the No. 13 Ford of David Starr—the last driver on the lead lap—blew a right front tire and shot up the track into the outside wall and right into Gragson's path."
Gragson, who led 83 and 81 laps in last year's two Homestead races but failed to win either, couldn't avoid the collision that destroyed his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. At the time, Gragson led second-place Reddick by more than eight seconds.
"What are you going to do," Gragson said after a visit to the infield care center. "We dominated the last three races here, including this one, and have stuff like that (happen). We were saving fuel. I was half-throttle the last 30 laps, and we were still pulling away."vThe first stage of the race was eventful—but not primarily for Stefan Parsons spin in Turn 4 on Lap 26 or for Daniel Hemric missing his pit stall under the resulting caution and knocking his tire carrier to the pavement.
What Stage 1 demonstrated with jarring clarity was the enormous value of fresh tires on the abrasive asphalt surface. Allmendinger restarted 25th on fresh tires with 10 laps left in the stage and grabbed the lead from Kaulig Racing teammate Justin Haley eight laps later.
Allmendinger won the stage with Haley second after restarting 20th and moving into the lead on Lap 33 before surrendering the top spot to his teammate. Reigning series champion Cindric, on the other hand, stayed out during the caution, restarted in the lead on old tires and fell to 14th by the end of the 10-lap run.
Stage 2 was the mirror image of Stage 1. When fluid from Parsons' car necessitated the third caution of the race on Lap 68, drivers who had stayed out under the Lap 26 caution to save a set of tires came to pit road—Cindric among them.
Allmendinger led the field to the restart with six laps left in the second stage. Cindric restarted 22nd, and in less than three laps took the lead on the way to a stage win and a Playoff point.
Pit stops followed at the end of the stage, on Lap 83, leaving almost all drivers on equal rubber for the final run, with two sets of sticker tires left in the pits. But in terms of track position, the exchange favored those who had pitted late in Stage 2 and charged to the front.
First off pit road during the fourth caution, Cindric led the field to green on Lap 89. But neither Cindric nor Allmendinger was a major player in the overtime. y Hemric finished third, followed by Jeb Burton. Cindric, Haley, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Sieg, Jeremy Clements and Josh Berry completed the top 10.
Xfinity stalwarts Harrison Burton and Justin Allgaier were the first two drivers out of the race, Burton with and engine failure and Allgaier after contact with the Ford of Riley Herbst on Lap 98.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Los Gatos, CA | Dec 16, 1981 | 39 | Chevrolet | Ellsworth Advisors | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
2 | 90 | Dexter Bean | Westby, WI | Jan 5, 1987 | 34 | Chevrolet | Chinchor Electric / Danus | DGM Racing | BJ Tucker |
3 | 17 | JJ Yeley | Phoenix, AZ | Oct 5, 1976 | 44 | Chevrolet | Work Pro | Rick Ware Racing | Jason Miller |
4 | 4 | Landon Cassill | Cedar Rapids, IA | Jul 7, 1989 | 31 | Chevrolet | TeamJDMotorsports.com | JD Motorsports | Tommy Machek |
5 | 13 | David Starr | Houston, TX | Nov 11, 1967 | 53 | Ford | Whataburger | Motorsports Business Management | Patrick Magee |
6 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Port Tobacco, MD | Feb 25, 1993 | 28 | Ford | CrashClaimsR.us | Motorsports Business Management | Mark Hillman |
7 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 34 | Chevrolet | TeamJDMotorsports.com | JR Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
8 | 1 | Michael Annett | Des Moines, IA | Jun 23, 1986 | 34 | Chevrolet | PFJ American Heart Association | JR Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
9 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Grimes, IA | Aug 7, 1992 | 28 | Chevrolet | Tax Slayer | Our Motorsports | Joe Williams |
10 | 54 | Ty Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Feb 27, 1992 | 29 | Toyota | Bass Pro Shops | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
11 | 10 | Jeb Burton | Halifax, VA | Aug 6, 1992 | 28 | Chevrolet | Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
12 | 0 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Mooresville, NC | Jun 22, 1989 | 31 | Chevrolet | KSDT CPA | JD Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
13 | 52 | Gray Gaulding | Colonial Heights, VA | Feb 10, 1998 | 23 | Chevrolet | Means Motorsports | Means Motorsports | Tim Brown |
14 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Tucker, GA | Jun 20, 1987 | 33 | Ford | CMR Construction and Roofing | RSS Racing | Kevin Starland |
15 | 47 | Kyle Weatherman | Wentzville, MO | Aug 28, 1997 | 23 | Chevrolet | Weiks Media | Mike Harmon Racing | Teddy Brown |
16 | 18 | Daniel Hemric | Kannapolis, NC | Jan 27, 1991 | 30 | Toyota | Poppy Bank | Joe Gibbs Racing | Dave Rogers |
17 | 61 | Chad Finchum | Knoxville, TN | Sep 22, 1994 | 26 | Toyota | Ultra Commerical Interiors | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Clinton Cram |
18 | 78 | Jesse Little | Sherrills Ford, NC | Apr 15, 1997 | 23 | Chevrolet | David's Electric | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Adam Brooks |
19 | 23 | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | Jan 11, 1996 | 25 | Chevrolet | RSS Racing | RSS Racing | Paul Clapprood |
20 | 74 | Bayley Currey | Driftwood, TX | Oct 29, 1996 | 24 | Chevrolet | JM Steel / Belmont Classic Cars | Mike Harmon Racing | Alan Collins Jr |
21 | 11 | Justin Haley | Winamac, IN | Apr 28, 1999 | 21 | Chevrolet | LeafFilter Gutter Protection | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
22 | 36 | Alex Labbe | Saint-Albert, Canada | Apr 29, 1993 | 27 | Chevrolet | Prolon / Rosseau / Silver Wax | DGM Racing | Mario Gosselin |
23 | 22 | Austin Cindric | Columbus, OH | Sep 2, 1998 | 22 | Ford | PPG | Team Penske | Brian Wilson |
24 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Woodbridge, VA | Sep 14, 1993 | 27 | Chevrolet | Brandonbilt Foundations | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
25 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Atlanta, GA | Feb 18, 1997 | 24 | Toyota | Toyota Supra | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
26 | 20 | Harrison Burton | Huntersville, NC | Oct 9, 2000 | 20 | Toyota | Hunt Brothers Pizza / DEX Imaging | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
27 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Spartanburg, SC | Jan 16, 1985 | 36 | Chevrolet | Wealth Accelerators | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
28 | 07 | Joe Graf Jr | Mahwah, NJ | Jul 12, 1998 | 22 | Chevrolet | Bucked Up Energy | SS Green Light Racing | Mike Tyska |
29 | 92 | Josh Williams | Port Charlotte, FL | Aug 3, 1993 | 27 | Chevrolet | Star Brite / Star Tron | DGM Racing | Eddie Troconis |
30 | 5 | Matt Mills | Lynchburg, VA | Nov 14, 1996 | 24 | Chevrolet | J.F. Electric | BJ McLeod Motorsports | David Ingram |
31 | 2 | Myatt Snider | Charlotte, NC | Dec 30, 1994 | 26 | Chevrolet | TaxSlayer | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
32 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Las Vegas, NV | Jul 15, 1998 | 22 | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / TrueTimber Camo BRCC | JR Motorsports | Dave Elenz |
33 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Las Vegas, NV | Feb 24, 1999 | 22 | Ford | Monster Energy | Stewart-Haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
34 | 44 | Tommy Joe Martins | Como, MS | Dec 7, 1986 | 34 | Chevrolet | Gilreath Farms Red Angus | Martins Motorsports | Frank Kerr |
35 | 15 | Colby Howard | Simpsonville, SC | Oct 28, 2001 | 19 | Chevrolet | Project HOPE Foundation | JD Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
36 | 48 | Jade Buford | Brentwood, TN | Feb 15, 1988 | 33 | Chevrolet | Big Machine Vodka Spiked Cooler | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
37 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | La Miranda, CA | Sep 23, 2000 | 20 | Chevrolet | TeamJDMotorsports.com | JD Motorsports | Ricky Viers |
38 | 99 | Stefan Parsons | Cornelius, NC | Jun 15, 1998 | 22 | Chevrolet | Springrates | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Keith Wolfe |
39 | 8 | Josh Berry | Hendersonville, TN | Oct 22, 1990 | 30 | Chevrolet | FilterTime | JR Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
40 | 126 | Santino Ferrucci | Woodbury, CT | May 31, 1998 | 22 | Toyota | Stillhouse Whiskey | Sam Hunt Racing | Andrew Abbott |